Going under
by Arithese
Summary: Alternative ending to Teen titans; The Judas Contract. After the fight with Deathstroke Dick patches up an injured Damian. Rated T for injuries and fluff. One-shot


They had been so busy fighting, focused on the battle ahead of them, that they hadn't noticed two of their teammates falling down when the restraints let go and not getting up like they did. Gar did, he noticed Terra not getting up. He noticed how she laid on top of the machine, eyes closed and not moving at all.

But no one but Nightwing noticed the black and red figure falling down in the middle of the smoke and not moving.

"Robin!" Nightwing exclaimed, glancing at his teammates fighting their own battle before sprinting towards Robin, his little brother more important than the battle. His eyes however opened impossibly wide behind his domino mask as he saw a hand wrapping around Robin's throat.

"Agh!" Robin choked out, bringing trembling hands up to the one holding his throat, gritting his teeth.

"Slade!" Nightwing yelled and the man behind the mask snickered, placing a foot on Robin's stomach and pressing down. Blood streamed down the side of Robin's mouth and Nightwing immediately threw a batarang, Slade being forced to dodge it and stopping away from Robin's stomach.

"Let him go Slade" Nightwing glares, reaching for his escrima sticks and clashing with Deathstroke's sword. They fought, Deathstroke clearly having the upper hand in the fight but Nightwing kept his ground, if he lost or backed off Slade would go for his younger brother again.

And right now, Robin was in no way able to defend himself.

He knew about their history together, how Deathstroke was cast aside once Damian came around to take over the league of Assassins. And Deathstroke in turn had killed Ra's in hate, in some twisted way ensuring Damian coming to Bruce's attention and Bruce adopting his son, his biological son.

10 years too late as the damage of growing up with assassins had already been done.

"Give up Richard, you can't win" Slade taunted, managing to kick Dick away, the latter groaning in pain. The man stumbled backwards, regaining himself quickly and blocking a sword coming his way with his stick, glaring at the mercenary.

"Bring it on" Nightwing muttered in return, delivering a kick to the assassin as well. Nightwing quickly threw a smoke bomb but before he could attack again something connected with his stomach, sending him tumbling backwards. Suddenly an arm reached around his neck, threatening to break it.

Rumbling was heard, a faint scream far away.

Nightwing groaned, struggling but Slade only tightened his hold on the hero.

"Slade!" Someone suddenly yelled and Nightwing could just barely look up before a blonde figure collided with Slade. "I'm gonna kill you!" She screamed, firing rocks at the man who betrayed her, sold her off for money so easily when Slade couldn't deliver Nightwing for the ritual.

And she was mad, furious at the man.

"Terra no!" Nightwing screamed but before he knew a wall was blocking him from both Terra and Deathstroke. And yet, despite him still wanting to save Terra, still wanting to give her a chance, he ran towards his younger brother instead. The ground rumbled beneath him and he almost fell a few times before he reached Damian.

The boy Wonder was half curled up on his side, one arm reaching around his stomach, clenching tightly, and his teeth were gritted. Blood streamed down his mouth and cuts on his face. A bruise was already forming on his face in the form of a handprint and Nightwing glares at the sight.

"Robin" He called out, dropping to his knees before his younger brother.

"You're an i-idiot" Robin whispers, scowling at the waver in his own voice, looking away from his older brother but Nightwing only scanned his body, searching for any serious injuries. The ground shook heavily, making Nightwing sway dangerously, trying to find his balance again and shielding Robin from the rocks that were falling down.

And the sound was immediately followed by an agonising scream from Terra, not physical, but emotionally, betrayal bleeding through her voice.

"Nightwing" Robin groaned, trying to get up but was stopped immediately by his brother's arms. "Nightwing stop, I am not a child" Robin growled as Nightwing slid an arm under his back and knees, hosting him up.

"I never said you were" Nightwing grinded out, dodging another fallen rock. Robin immediately shut his mouth, groaning as his ribs were jostled by the movement. Nightwing quickly ran over to the other Titans, Kori immediately meeting them and looking at her teammate with concern written in her eyes.

"Help him on my back" Nightwing said quickly.

"You're injured, let me carry him" Nightwing mentally cursed that Kori could see through him so clearly but shook his head.

"Which is why I should carry him, so you can protect him" Kori nods at the explanation, quickly helping Robin on Nightwing's back. The boy Wonder hisses in pain, gritting his teeth until he felt arms support him so he wouldn't fall off Nightwing's back. Weak arms wrapped around his brother's neck, having some sense of self-doing in keeping on his back.

"No!" Beast boy screamed as he was thrown into the rest of the Titans by Terra, trying to run towards the blonde again but Blue Beetle stopped him.

"We have to go. The place is gonna collapse" He called out, trying to keep Beast Boy back but the green boy continued to struggle. Kori quickly flew over to him, wrapping her arms around the changeling as well and dragging him backwards.

"Terra!" He screamed, tears streaming down his face as the girl that was once considered their teammate screamed before the rest of the ceiling collapsed, the Titans narrowly escaping.

TT;JC

"Hold still"

Robin scowled at the comment, sitting still as Nightwing carefully unclips his cape from the Robin costume and sets it aside. Robin shudders slightly as his cape was removed, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Nightwing stops for a second before moving to the wrist guards and the ones around his shins as well as his shoes.

"Is the door locked?" Nightwing looks up with a surprised look a second, but shakes his head with a thoughtful look on his face.

"This is the first time you've been hurt this bad" Nightwing deducts. As ex-team leader and older brother he knows when and how Damian has gotten injured over the last year but he hasn't realised that this was the first time it was this bad. "Dami they've been your teammates for over a year"

"Doesn't mean I like them seeing me injured Grayson" Robin scowls as Dick carefully slides down the pants to his Robin outfit, revealed bruised and bloody legs from where he had been held by the rocks. Dick doesn't say anything, knowing where the insecurity came from, as he hadn't been allowed to show he was injured for the first 10 years of his life.

Showing injuries was a sign of weakness, something that would be punished severely.

Him willingly allowing Dick to patch him up was already a big achievement.

Nightwing sighs, reaching over to peel off Robin's mask but the Boy Wonder slaps the hand away with his good one.

"I am injured not incapable of taking off my mask" Nightwing stays silent, not taking the insult personally and taking off his own mask as Robin does the same, green eyes meeting blue ones.

"Let's get you patched up" Dick sighs, helping Damian out of the rest of his uniform until he was stripped to his underwear. Nasty bruises were already forming on his chest and belly area, and Dick could clearly make out the fists marking them, creating the bruises. Which meant Slade had punched Damian.

Silently Dick starts to prod and pinch the area around the bruises, checking if no ribs were broken, which unfortunately was the case as he felt numerous cracks and signs of broken ribs.

"Sorry little D" Dick apologises sympathetically but Damian just shrugs with a hiss, jerking away from Dick's touch as he hit a particular bad bruise in the centre of his chest, glaring at his older brother.

"What caused this one?" Dick asks, this one was too big to be from Slade.

"Terra" Damian just mutters, ashamed and still hurt by her betrayal, even if he wasn't voicing these emotions out loud, Dick knew him too well.

"You're gonna need a CT scan for your ribs" Dick says but Damian stays still, allowing Dick to further check him for injuries. His arms and legs all had scrapes and scratches from the rocks and his left shoulder has been pulled out of his socket, one that Slade had already brutally fixed, but it was still bruising and hurting much like Dick's own shoulder.

Yet he knew how uncomfortable his little brother got when he was injured. So he ignored the nagging pain in the back of his mind. He had fought with the limb after all, it could wait.

His worst injury was clearly in his chest and belly, having suffered multiple large bruises and other trauma. There were deep scratches on his left arm and also on his left cheek which all needed stitches if they wanted it to heal properly with minimum scarring. And a bruise blooming on his right one.

Several bruises were forming over his body from the fight with Slade but they were minimal, especially considering the state of his stomach, already turning a shade of red, dark blue and even black.

"I'm sorry Damian but you need a CT-scan right now" The young boy scowled at the thought, knowing what this meant. That he had to go out of his room and move towards the medical bay.

"You are not carrying me" Damian said stubbornly, already ready to get off his bed but Dick stopped him.

"Careful little D" He told his little brother, putting a hand on Damian's chest with care to prevent him from further injuring his ribs. "Kori, we're going to need a CT-scan" Dick said in his commlink, waiting a few seconds before humming in agreement to something Kori said on the other end of the line.

Dick walked over to the closet in Damian's room, finding a bathrobe for him to wear. Damian gratefully accepted the clothing.

"C'mon" Dick ordered, wrapping an arm around Damian's waist and helping him us. An involuntarily hiss escaped through Damian's tightly locked lips as his ribs were strained but staggered forwards. No way was he going to be carried by Grayson again.

They made their way over to the medical bay, luckily without running into any of his teammates.

"Dick" Kori greeted, flying up to them and quickly looking at Damian with concern. "How are you?" She whispered quietly and Damian only then noticed the sleeping figure of Gar in the medical bay, sitting on one of the medical beds and leaning against Jaime's shoulder, who had an arm around the younger boy.

"Just peachy" Damian grimaces, allowing his older brother to carry him over to the other part of the room where the CT-scan was located. He was slightly uncomfortable when taking off the bathrobe but pushed past it and laid down on the bed to get his ribs checked out.

"How is he?" Kori whispered as Dick activated the scan, and Damian was unable to hear their conversation. Dick sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Not as bad as could be but Slade really did a number on his chest and belly… you saw what it looked like" At this Kori winces, looking back at Damian's chest, already discolouring from the attacks before Dick turns to where Gar was sitting. "How's Gar?"

"Injured, but not as bad as Damian, mostly just shook from well… y'know" Kori explains and Dick nods with a grim expression, he knew exactly what Kori was talking about, Terra's betrayal. And there was no denying that Beast Boy had come closest to Terra than the other titans.

Terra never opened up to Kori, Dick or anyone else on the team.

Kori gasps as the results of the CT scan were revealed but Dick let out a breath of relief almost at the revelation. Of course the 4 broken and 5 cracked ribs weren't a good sign but he wouldn't need any surgery to repair them, and the ribs hadn't nicked any important organs either.

And after Dick hearing Slade talk about beating the crap out of his little brother, this wasn't as bad as he thought it would be.

"What?" Damian asks as he carefully sits on the bench once the CT scan was complete. Dick and Kori exchange a look and walk over to the current Robin.

"4 broken, 5 cracked" Dick tells and Damian seems to be unfazed by the revelation, only snaking his right arm around his stomach. "It didn't do any damage but I'm gonna have to wrap your ribs" Damian nods at the statement, watching as Kori already walks off the get the right medical equipment.

"What is wrong with Garfield?" Damian asks bluntly, trying to hide the concern that was in his voice but Dick and Kori both caught the hint of concern, and knew that Damian cared either way.

"He misses Terra" Kori says softly as she helps Dick wrap Damian's chest to immobilise his ribs as much as possible. Damian hisses, lowering his arms slightly. Dick stops for a moment, looking at his younger brother but Damian simply holds his arms up as a sign for Dick to continue.

"She was a traitor" Damian glares at no one in particular. Dick softens his gaze, wrapping more gauze around Damian's chest and covering the massive bruising.

"She was troubled Damian, Gar saw this and tried to come close to her" Kori explains, holding Damian's back straight. "And he succeeded, they were close, which makes the betrayal even harder for him" Damian now lowers his gaze.

"Is that why he cried when he found her?" It was a stupid question, Damian knew, but he couldn't help but ask them. The only answer he got was Dick nodding painfully. Once Damian's chest was wrapped both Dick and Kori separately started to treat the rest of Damian's injuries.

Damian stared mindlessly as Kori cleaned and wrapped the wounds on his ankles and legs, while Dick stitching his arm and face.

"It's okay to admit you miss her" Dick whispers softly in broken Arabic but Damian understood nevertheless. He glares at his older brother.

"She was a traitor Grayson" Damian retorts, this time speaking Romani just to prove his point to his older brother. Dick smirked slightly at the reply in his mother tongue.

"Doesn't change that she was your teammate for a year" Dick responds in Romani, almost gleaming at speaking Romani again. He knew that Damian did that on purpose, he knew Damian knew he liked speaking Romani. And so far he had been the second one to fully learn the language.

Bruce knew the language. Alfred did as well, but he wasn't fluent. Neither was Wally who learned the basics for his sake. Roy tried but eventually gave up, he knew some sentences however. Damian was the second one to fully learn the language, even if rarely anyone spoke it.

And in return Dick had learned Arabic. He knew some already because of course they had crossed paths with the league of Assassins numerous times but after he learned that Arabic was Damian's mother tongue, he decided to return the favour.

Kori frowns slightly at the conversation, she recognised the languages as Arabic and Romani, as Dick had often spoken Romani and Damian Arabic, but she didn't know what they were saying. But that was okay, because she understood that they were talking these languages because they didn't want her to understand it.

Which was the only reason she didn't just learn those languages. And she definitely wasn't going to learn Arabic…

"I am done" Starfire says as she finishes wrapping his wounds, standing up and observing as Dick made the last stitch on Damian's face, cleaning up the now newly stitched area on his face before putting a piece of gauze on top of it. Damian almost scowled at the action, prodding the area carefully as the gauze was in place.

"You want to go to your room?" Dick asks as both were done with tending to Damian's injuries. Damian grimaces at the mention and Kori seems to catch on.

"I will make sure Garfield goes to his room for tonight, it's late" She announces, planting a quick kiss on Dick's cheek. "It's okay if you want to stay with him" She whispers so Damian doesn't hear it before leaving the room.

Dick looks at Damian in understanding, knowing the young boy wanted him to stay for the night. Whether he openly voiced it or not.

TT;JC

"You sure you're okay?" Dick asks, watching his younger brother closely. His hands were behind his head, half sitting and half laying on Damian's bed. His younger brother grumbled at the mention, fidgeting with his shorts and struggling to get them on.

"I'm fin-" The current Boy Wonder started but stopped when a coughing fit suddenly came up. Dick was immediately up, almost sprinting over to his younger brother with a pillow in his hand. Painful coughs echoed through the room and tears were leaking from Damian's face before Dick pressed the pillow against his chest.

Immediately the boy clutched to both the pillow and Dick's arm, mostly unaware of what he was doing. He couched for a few moments, before stopping as sudden as it started, leaving Damian heaving and cringing with every breath.

"You sure you're okay?" Dick asks again, but this time with sarcasm lacing his voice. Damian grumbles again, taking rapid and shallow breaths while Dick held the pillow in place and rubbed his back to comfort him.

"Damn it" Damian muttered, clutching his chest as Dick removed the pillow.

"You know, Wally used to think it was funny to press me against the wall when I had broken ribs and had to cough in public. It worked but we got some weird glances" Dick snickers and Damian glares at his older brother.

"Don't even think about it Grayson" Damian hisses lowly and Dick laughs, holding up his hands.

"I won't, just .."He stops himself as well, crouching down to quickly pull Damian's shorts over his underwear as he wasn't able to himself with his broken ribs. Damian stiffens but allows his older brother to dress him. "C'mon, it's late"

"Define late Grayson" Damian snorts, gasping slightly as his ribs started acted up again and snaking an arm around his chest.

"I'd say 2 past midnight is late for 13 year old" Dick grins and Damian silently allows him to lead him to bed. With some difficulty he climbs onto the bed, hissing multiple times as well as cursing in both Arabic and Chinese as his ribs were jostled. He lays down on his back, Dick laying down next to him and snaking an arm around him.

"Grayson I'm not a baby! I do not need to cuddle" Damian hisses, but he doesn't struggle, and Dick smiled.

"G'night Dami"

…

There was a short silence after that.

"Night Grayson"


End file.
